Positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement are two common techniques used for training animals. Negative reinforcement teaches through punishment which actions are forbidden. Positive reinforcement provides a reward for desired behavior, thereby increasing the probability that the desired behavior will be repeated. Both reinforcement methods are generally most successful when the punishment or reward is provided as soon as possible after the performance of the behavior. Animal behavior changes accomplished using positive reinforcement techniques tend to outlast behavior changes resulting from negative reinforcement and other training methods, since the animal's desire to perform is increased by the positive reinforcement technique.
Primary reinforcement is a positive reinforcement technique which rewards good behavior by satisfying a primary need of the animal in training, such as the need for food or water. Like any positive reinforcement method, primary reinforcement is most effective when the reward is provided immediately upon performance of the desired behavior.
The primary reinforcement method can be highly effective in training horses and other animals. However, providing an immediate primary reward for the desired action is often difficult, if not impossible, for the trainer to accomplish. As the time between the desired behavior and the reward increases, the effectiveness and usefulness of the primary reinforcement method severely decreases. Also, as the time between the desired behavior and the reward increases the animal in training may exhibit undesired behaviors in connection with desired behaviors. By giving the animal a reward following a behavior pattern which includes desired and undesired behavior, the trainer will reinforce the entire behavior pattern, making eradication of the reinforced undesired behavior extremely difficult. For these reasons, current training programs which incorporate primary reinforcement techniques take approximately the same amount of time to satisfactorily train an animal as do negative reinforcement and other training methods. The current major benefit achieved by incorporating primary reinforcement techniques into an animal training program is that the animal behavior changes accomplished using primary reinforcement techniques occur more rapidly and tend to outlast behavior changes resulting from negative reinforcement and other training methods.
One animal commonly trained by man is the horse. Horses require extensive training for a wide variety of activities such as racing, barrels, reining, combined training, hunting, jumping, endurance riding, polo, harness, dressage, pleasure riding, trail riding, and many other recreational and commercial uses.
Current training programs for these activities, including training programs which utilize primary reinforcement, may take several years to fully train the horse. This lengthy training period is mostly due to the current time delay between training rewards and the horse's desired behavior. The trainer is often riding the horse during training, making it impossible to respond with a primary reward immediately. At other times, whether the trainer is seated on the horse or not, it would be disruptive to stop the horse's maneuvers in order to reward him. In dressage especially, the smooth, graceful flow of movement is of critical importance in competition, and must be stressed in training sessions as well.
Other animals commonly trained by man include mules, llamas, alpacas, goats, and other pack animals. These animals are becoming increasingly popular as pack animals for recreational use because of their relatively low impact on the environment. Dogs are also frequently trained for pure domestication purposes, or racing, hunting, defense purposes, and other recreational and commercial uses. Many of the training programs currently used to train these animals also require several years to produce fully trained animals. As with the difficulties in current training programs for horses, this length of time is mostly due to the current time delays between the exhibition of the desired behavior of the animal in training, and a training reward reinforcing the desired behavior. Using current training methods and devices, it is not possible to reward an animal simultaneously with, or immediately following, the exhibition of desired behavior.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to substantially eliminate the time delay between the performance of a desired behavior and the delivery of the reward in a primary reinforcement training program for animals, including horses. It would also be advantageous to substantially reduce the total time required to fully train animals, including horses, for a specific activity. Finally, it would be advantageous to accomplish the rapid training of animals, including horses, by using a primary reinforcement training method and apparatus, in order to achieve effective, long lasting behavior modification.